


Cassiopeia Potter, the unusual witch

by Ptl4ever419



Series: Story Haven [11]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Female Harry Potter, Gen, Runaway Harry
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-29
Updated: 2016-01-29
Packaged: 2018-05-17 01:28:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,670
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5848627
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ptl4ever419/pseuds/Ptl4ever419
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sirius Black broke out of Azkaban and manages to change some things without even trying.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter One: Owl Post

Cassiopeia Potter was a highly unusual girl in many ways. For one thing, she hated the summer holidays more than any other time of year. For another, she really wanted to do her homework but was forced to do it in secret, in the dead of night. And she also happened to be a witch. 

It was nearly midnight, and she was lying on her stomach on a well worn mattress covered by a thin blanket, a flashlight in one hand and a large leather-bound book (A History of Magic by Bathilda Bagshot) propped open against the lumpy pillow. Cassiopeia moved the tip of her eagle-feather quill down the page, frowning as she looked for something that would help her write the essay, "Witch Burning in the Fourteenth Century Was Completely Pointless discuss." 

The quill paused at the top of a likely-looking paragraph. Cassi moved her flashlight closer to the book, and read:  
_Non-magic people (more commonly known as Muggles) were particularly afraid of magic in medieval times, but not very good at recognising it. On the rare occasion that they did catch a real witch or wizard, burning had no effect whatsoever. The witch or wizard would perform a basic Flame Freezing Charm and then pretend to shriek with pain while enjoying a gentle, tickling sensation. Indeed, Wendelin the Weird enjoyed being burned so much that she allowed herself to be caught no less than forty-seven times in various disguises._

Cassi put the quill between her teeth and reached underneath her pillow for her ink bottle and a roll of parchment. Slowly and very carefully she unscrewed the ink bottle, dipped her quill into it, and began to write, pausing every now and then to listen, because if any of the Dursleys heard the scratching of a quill on their way to the bathroom, she'd probably find herself locked in her cupboard for the rest of the summer. The Dursley family of number four, Privet Drive, was the reason that Cassi never enjoyed her summer holidays. Uncle Vernon, Aunt Petunia, and their son, Dudley, were Cassi's only living relatives, well that wasn't strictly true, but they were her only maternal relations. They were Muggles, and they had a very medieval attitude toward magic. Cassi's parents, who had been a witch and wizard themselves, were never mentioned under the Dursleys' roof. For years, Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon had hoped that if they kept Cassiopeia as downtrodden as possible, they would be able to squash the magic out of her; being starved, beaten, and more were the makings of her childhood. But to their fury, they had been unsuccessful. These days they lived in terror of anyone finding out that Cassi had spent most of the last two years at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. They had moved Cassi back to the cupboard under the stairs after her brief stint in Dudley's second bedroom almost immediately after they learned it had not stopped the letters so the most they could do to stop the neighbours from discovering her unusual education, was to put a padlock on Cassi's trunk (it was still stored in her cupboard to taunt her), which held her spellbooks, wand, cauldron, and broomstick at the start of the summer break, and forbid her to talk to the neighbours. 

This separation from her spellbooks had been a real problem for Cassi, because her teachers at Hogwarts had given her a lot of holiday work. One of the essays, a particularly nasty one about shrinking potions, was for Cassi's least favorite professor, a Mister Severus Snape, who would be delighted to have any excuse to give Cassi detention for a month. Cassi had therefore seized her chance in the first week of the holidays. While Uncle Vernon, Aunt Petunia, and Dudley had gone out into the front garden to admire Uncle Vernon's new company car (in very loud voices, so that the rest of the street would notice it too), Cassi had picked the lock on her trunk with a bobby pin and hidden the books and equipment she would need for some of her summer work under the box that served as her bedside table. As long as she didn't leave spots of ink on the sheets, the Dursleys need never know that she was studying magic by night, that might not even alert them as one of Cassi's many chores was the laundry. Cassi was particularly keen to avoid trouble with her uncle at the moment, as she was beginning to develop a teenagers body and didn't want to tempt fate.

Cassi had had no word from any of her friends for five long weeks, and this summer was turning out to be almost as bad as the last one. There was just one very small improvement--after swearing that she wouldn't use her to send letters to any of her friends, Cassi had been allowed to let her owl, Hedwig, out at night. Uncle Vernon had given in because of the racket Hedwig made if she was locked in her cage all the time.

Cassi finished writing about Wendelin the Weird and paused to listen again. The silence in the dark house was broken only by the distant, grunting snores of her enormous cousin, Dudley. It must be very late, Cassi thought. Her eyes were itching with tiredness. Perhaps she'd finish this essay tomorrow night... 

She replaced the top of the ink bottle; pulled an old pillowcase from under her box; put the flashlight, A History of Magic, her essay, quill, and ink inside it; and hid the lot under the box that served as her bedside table. Then she stood up, stretched, and checked the time on the luminous alarm clock on her bedside table. It was one o'clock in the morning. Cassi's stomach gave a funny jolt. She had been thirteen years old, without realizing it, for a whole hour. Yet another unusual thing about Cassi was how little she looked forward to her birthdays. She had never received a birthday card in her life; or at least one she remembered, Cassi supposed she would have received some for her first birthday. The Dursleys had completely ignored all her birthdays, and she had no reason to suppose they would remember this one. 

Cassi looked at Hedwig's large, empty cage, stored in the lowest part of her cupboard and sighed. Hedwig had been absent for two nights now. Cassi wasn't worried about her: she'd been gone this long before. But she hoped she'd be back soon--she was the only living creature in this house who didn't shout abuse at her or flinch at the sight of her. 

Cassi, though still rather small and skinny for her age, had grown an inch or two over the last year. Her jet-black hair, however, was just as it always had been--stubbornly untidy, no matter the length she grew it to; it was now down to her waist. Her eyes were bright green, and on her forehead, slightly hidden behind her fringe, was a thin scar, shaped like a bolt of lightning. Of all the unusual things about Cassi, this scar was the most extraordinary of all. It was not, as the Dursleys had pretended for ten years, a souvenir of the car crash that had killed her parents, because Lily and James Potter had not died in a car crash. They had been murdered, murdered by the most feared Dark wizard for a hundred years, Lord Voldemort. She had escaped from the same attack with nothing more than a scar on her forehead, where Voldemort's curse, instead of killing her, the one intended, had rebounded upon its originator. Barely alive, Voldemort had fled... 

But she had come face-to-face with him at Hogwarts. Remembering their last meeting Cassi had to admit she was lucky even to have reached her thirteenth birthday. 

She listened carefully for a sign of Hedwig, perhaps tapping at the kitchen window with a dead mouse dangling from her beak, expecting praise. Thinking absently, it was a few seconds before Cassi realized what she was hearing, the sound of flapping wings of a bird carrying a heavy burden and the hooting of multiple owls. For a split second she hesitated, her hand on the cupboard latch, wondering whether to risk. But then realising it would be better for her to be the only one to hear the birds she unlatched the latch silently and tiptoed into the kitchen and unlatched the window Hedwig always came to. Through the window soared three owls, two of them holding up the third, which appeared to be unconscious. They landed with a soft flump on the window seat, and the middle owl, which was large and gray, keeled right over and lay motionless. There was a large package tied to its legs. 

Cassi recognized the unconscious owl at once--his name was Errol, and he belonged to the Weasley family. Cassi silently dashed to them, untied the cords around Errol's legs, took off the parcel, and then carried Errol to the sink and turned the water on to a drip. Errol opened one bleary eye, gave a feeble hoot of thanks, and began to gulp some water. 

Cassi walked back to the remaining owls. One of them, the large snowy female, was her own Hedwig. She, too, was carrying a parcel and looked extremely pleased with herself. She gave Cassi an affectionate nip with her beak as she removed her burden, then flew back out into the night knowing it was safer for her with the Muggles that lived there. 

Cassi didn't recognise the third owl, a handsome tawny one, but she knew at once where it had come from, because in addition to a third package, it was carrying a letter bearing the Hogwarts crest. When Cassi relieved this owl of its burden, it ruffled its feathers importantly, stretched its wings, and took off through the window into the night. 

Cassi coaxed Errol out the window and into the night before she walked back to her cupboard carrying the owls' burdens, sat down on her mattress and grabbed Errol's package, ripped off the brown paper, and discovered a present wrapped in gold, and her first ever birthday card, at least that she remembered. Fingers trembling slightly, she opened the envelope. Two pieces of paper fell out--a letter and a newspaper clipping. 

The clipping had clearly come out of the wizarding newspaper, the _Daily Prophet,_ because the people in the black-and-white picture were moving. Cassi picked up the clipping, smoothed it out, and read: 

**MINISTRY OF MAGIC EMPLOYEE SCOOPS GRAND PRIZE**  
Arthur Weasley, Head of the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office at the Ministry of Magic, has won the annual _Daily Prophet_ Grand Prize Galleon Draw.  
A delighted Mr. Weasley told the _Daily Prophet_ , "We will be spending the gold on a summer holiday in Egypt, where our eldest son, Bill, works as a curse breaker for Gringotts Wizarding Bank."  
The Weasley family will be spending a month in Egypt, returning for the start of the new school year at Hogwarts, which five of the Weasley children currently attend.

 

Cassi scanned the moving photograph, and a grin spread across her face as she saw all nine of the Weasleys waving furiously at her, standing in front of a large pyramid. Plump little Mrs. Weasley; tall, balding Mr. Weasley; six sons; and one daughter, all (though the black-and-white picture didn't show it) with flaming red hair. Right in the middle of the picture was Ron, tall and gangling, with his pet rat, Scabbers, on his shoulder and his arm around his little sister, Ginny. 

Cassi couldn't think of anyone who deserved to win a large pile of gold more than the Weasleys, who were very nice and extremely poor. She picked up Ron's letter and unfolded it. 

_Dear Cassi,_  
Happy birthday!  
It's amazing here in Egypt. Bill's taken us around all the tombs and you wouldn't believe the curses those old Egyptian wizards put on them. Mum wouldn't let Ginny come in the last one. There were all these mutant skeletons in there, of Muggles who'd broken in and grown extra heads and stuff. I couldn't believe it when Dad won the Daily Prophet _Draw. Seven hundred galleons! Most of it's gone on this trip, but they're going to buy me a new wand for next year._

Cassi remembered only too well the occasion when Ron's old wand had snapped. It had happened when the car the two of them had been flying to Hogwarts had crashed into a tree on the school grounds. 

_We'll be back about a week before term starts and we'll be going up to London to get my wand andour new books. Any chance of meeting you there?_  
Don't let the Muggles get you down!  
Try and come to London, Ron  
P. S. Percy's Head Boy. He got the letter last week. 

Cassi glanced back at the photograph. Percy, who was in his seventh and final year at Hogwarts, was looking particularly smug. He had pinned his Head Boy badge to the fez perched jauntily on top of his neat hair, his horn-rimmed glasses flashing in the Egyptian sun. Cassi now turned to her present and unwrapped it. Inside was what looked like a miniature glass spinning top. There was another note from Ron beneath it. 

_Cassi--this is a Pocket Sneakoscope. If there's someone untrustworthy around, it's supposed to lightup and spin. Bill says it's rubbish sold for wizard tourists and isn't reliable, because it kept lighting up at dinner last night. But he didn't realise Fred and George had put beetles in his soup. Bye --Ron_

Cassi put the Pocket Sneakoscope on her bedside table, where it stood quite still, balanced on its point, reflecting the luminous hands of her clock. She looked at it happily for a few seconds, then picked up the parcel Hedwig had brought. Inside this, too, there was a wrapped present, a card, and a letter, this time from Hermione. 

_Dear Cassi,_  
I do hope you're all right.  
I'm on holiday in France at the moment and I didn't know how I was going to send this to you--what if they'd opened it at customs?--but then Hedwig turned up! I think she wanted to make sure you gotsomething for your birthday for a change. I bought your present by owl-order; there was an advertise-ment in the Daily Prophet (I've been getting it delivered; it's so good to keep up with what's going on inthe wizarding world), Did you see that picture of Ron and his family a week ago? I bet he's learningloads. I'm really jealous--the ancient Egyptian wizards were fascinating.  
There's some interesting local history of witchcraft here, too. I've rewritten my whole History of Magic essay to include some of the things I've found out, I hope it's not too long--it's two rolls of parchmentmore than Professor Binns asked for.  
Ron says he's going to be in London in the last week of the holidays. Can you make it? Will your auntand uncle let you come? I really hope you can. If not, I'll see you on the Hogwarts Express on September first!  
Love from Hermione  
P. S. Ron says Percy's Head Boy. I'll bet Percy's really pleased Ron doesn't seem too happy about it. 

Cassi chuckled softy as she put Hermione's letter aside and picked up her present. It was very heavy. Knowing Hermione, she was sure it would be a large book full of very difficult spells--but it wasn't. Her heart gave a huge bound as she ripped back the paper and saw a sleek black leather case, with silver wordsstamped across it, reading _Broomstick Servicing Kit._

"Wow, Hermione!" Cassi whispered, unzipping the case to look inside. 

There was a large jar of Fleetwood's High-Finish Handle Polish, a pair of gleaming silver Tall-TwigClippers, a tiny brass compass to clip on your broom for long journeys, and a _Handbook of Do-It-Yourself Broomcare._

Apart from her friends, the thing that Cassi missed most about Hogwarts was Quidditch, the most popular sport in the magical world--highly dangerous, very exciting, and played on broomsticks. Cassi happened to be a very good Quidditch player; she had been the youngest person in a century to be picked for one of the Hogwarts House teams. One of Cassi's most prized possessions was her Nimbus Two Thousand racing broom. 

Cassi put the leather case aside and picked up her last parcel. She recognized the untidy scrawl on the brown paper at once: this was from Hagrid, the Hogwarts gamekeeper. She tore off the top layer of paper and glimpsed a terrarium containing a dark shiny snake with orange stripes. Cassi gasped amazed at the beauty of the sleeping snake, but was puzzled as to what kind of snake it was so she grabbed Hagrid's card. 

_Dear Cassi,_  
Happy birthday!  
This here is a runespoor! I found it wandering in the Forbidden Forest and as its native to Africa the poor guy was really far from home. I tried to raise it for a bit, but found it didn't like me very much and as I don't know how to get it home I thought of you. This one here's a baby and they grow rather slowly so don't worry about that. I can't wait to find out what it says to you!  
See you back at Hogwarts and I wish you were taking Care of Magical Creatures, you'll see why when you get back.  
Hope the Muggles are treating you right.  
All the best,  
Hagrid 

Cassi put Hagrid's card up next to Ron's and Hermione's, grinning more broadly than ever. Now there was only the letter from Hogwarts left. Noticing that it was rather thicker than usual, Cassi slit open the envelope, pulled out the first page of parchment within, and read:

_Dear Ms. Potter,_  
Please note that the new school year will begin on September the first. The Hogwarts Express will leave from King's Cross station, platform nine and three-quarters, at eleven o'clock. Third years are permitted to visit the village of Hogsmeade on certain weekends. Please give the enclosed permission form to your parent or guardian to sign. A list of books for next year is enclosed.  
Yours sincerely,  
Professor M. McGonagall  
Deputy Headmistress 

Cassi pulled out the Hogsmeade permission form and looked at it, no longer grinning. It would be wonderful to visit Hogsmeade on weekends; she knew it was an entirely wizarding village, and she had never set foot there. But how on earth was she going to persuade Uncle Vernon or Aunt Petunia to sign the form? She looked over at the alarm clock. It was now two o'clock in the morning. Deciding that she'd worry about the Hogsmeade form when she woke up, Cassi lay back on her mattress, reached up to cross off another day on the chart she'd made for herself posted on the ceiling, counting down the days left until her return to Hogwarts. Then facing her three birthday cards, extremely unusual though she was, at that moment Cassiopeia Potter felt just like everyone else--glad, for the first time in her life, that it was her birthday.


	2. Chapter Two: Finding Saftey

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cassi gets the news that Sirius Black has broken out of prison

Cassi's alarm clock went off at 5:30 the next morning, she quickly awoke and shut it off lest it wake her relatives. She quickly shucked off the t-shirt she slept in, put on a dress her aunt had purchased at a thrift store years ago and went to the kitchen to start breakfast for the three Dursleys. She turned on the brand-new television, a welcome-home-for-the-summer present for Dudley, who had been complaining loudly about the long walk between the fridge and the television in the living room, and tuned to the news station Uncle Vernon liked to watch in the morning. Dudley had spent most of the summer in the kitchen, his piggy little eyes fixed on the screen and his five chins wobbling as he ate continually. Cassi quickly got a full English breakfast together, complete with bangers, rashers, eggs, and the works; eating a bit of everything as she worked. She was plating it as her uncle came down and sat at the table. She quickly placed the plate in front of him and hurried to get his coffee and paper before he yelled. She tidied up as he ate, keeping an ear on the news and the sounds from upstairs. 

Far from wishing Cassi a happy birthday, Uncle Vernon, large, beefy man with very little neck and a lot of moustache, made no sign that he had noticed Cassi serve him breakfast, but she was far too used to this to care. Cassi was fixing Aunt Petunia's plate when she heard the reporter on the television, who was halfway through a report on an escaped convict:

"...Sirius Black, having escaped sometime in the past few days. The public is warned that Black is armed and extremely dangerous. A special hot line has been set up, and any sighting of Black should be reported immediately."

"No need to tell us he's no good," snorted Uncle Vernon, staring over the top of his newspaper at the prisoner. "Look at the state of him, the filthy layabout! Look at his hair!"

He shot a nasty look sideways at Cassi, whose untidy hair had always been a source of great annoyance to Uncle Vernon. Compared to the man on the television, however, whose gaunt face was surrounded by a matted, elbow-length tangle, Cassi felt very well groomed indeed.

The reporter had reappeared.

"The Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries will announce today --"

"Hang on!" barked Uncle Vernon, staring furiously at the reporter. "You didn't tell us where that maniac's escaped from! What use is that? Lunatic could be coming up the street right now!"

Aunt Petunia, who was bony and horse-faced, whipped around and peered intently out of the kitchen window as she came into the kitchen, obviously having heard her husband coming down the stairs. Cassi knew Aunt Petunia would simply love to be the one to call the hot line number. She was the nosiest woman in the world and spent most of her life spying on the boring, law-abiding neighbors.

"When will they learn," said Uncle Vernon, pounding the table with his large purple fist, "that hanging's the only way to deal with these people?"

"Very true," said Aunt Petunia, who was still squinting into next door's runner beans after snatching her plate from her neice. 

Uncle Vernon drained his teacup, glanced at his watch, and added, "I'd better be off in a minute, Petunia. Marge's train gets in at ten."

Cassi, whose thoughts had been on the convict was brought back to earth with an unpleasant bump.

Aunt Marge was Uncle Vernon's sister. Even though she was not a blood relative of Cassi's (whose mother had been Aunt Petunia's sister), she had been forced to call her "Aunt" all her life. Aunt Marge lived in the country, in a house with a large garden, where she bred bulldogs. She didn't often stay at Privet Drive, because she couldn't bear to leave her precious dogs, but each of her visits stood out horribly vividly in Cassi's mind.

At Dudley's fifth birthday party, Aunt Marge had whacked Cassi around the shins with her walking stick to stop her from beating Dudley at musical statues. A few years later, she had turned up at Christmas with a computerized robot for Dudley and a box of dog biscuits for Cassi. On her last visit, the year before Cassi started at Hogwarts, Cassi had accidentally trodden on the tail of Marge's favorite dog. Ripper had chased Cassi out into the garden and up a tree, and Aunt Marge had refused to call him off until past midnight. The memory of this incident still brought tears of laughter to Dudley's eyes. Marge would be there for a week, something Cassi knew very well as she was the one who had cleaned the house top to bottom over the past week. 

When the Dursley's had told her of Marge's pending arrival Uncle Vernon snarled at her to remember a few things. He had pointed a fat finger threateningly at Cassi and said, "we need to get a few things straight before she arrives."

Dudley smirked and withdrew his gaze from the television program he had been watching as watching Cassi being bullied by Uncle Vernon was Dudley's favorite form of entertainment.

"Firstly," growled Uncle Vernon, "you'll keep a civil tongue in your head when you're talking to Marge."

Cassi had nodded swiftly, all the while thinking, _if she does when she's talking to me._

"Secondly," said Uncle Vernon, acting as though he had not noticed Cassi's reply, "as Marge doesn't know anything about your abnormality, I don't want any -- any funny stuff while she's here.

You behave yourself, got me?"

Cassi nodded again, gritting her teeth against saying, "I will if she does."

"And thirdly," said Uncle Vernon, his mean little eyes now slits in his great purple face, "we've told Marge you attend St. Brutus's Secure Center for Incurably Criminal Children."

"What?" was what she desperately wanted to yell, but knew that would only get her in trouble so bit her tongue, hard. 

"And you'll be sticking to that story, freak, or there'll be trouble," spat Uncle Vernon.

"Well, Petunia," said Uncle Vernon, bringing Cassi back to the present, getting heavily to his feet, "I'll be off to the station, then. Want to come along for the ride, dear?"

"No," said Petunia, whose attention had returned to the neighbours garden now that Uncle Vernon had finished talking to her, "I've got to make sure Dudley gets himself smart for his auntie; I've bought him a lovely new bow tie."

Uncle Vernon kissed Petunia on the cheek, "See you in a bit, then," he said, and he left the kitchen.

Cassi had barely even heard the conversation, her mind was a buzz. All she had been thinking of was the convict on the television; she knew exactly who he was and where he had escaped from. She had learned that in the old _Daily Prophet_ articles she had gone through during her last two years of school. She had been interested in learning about why she was the 'Girl Who Lived,' so had decided to research the war, which she had 'saved' them from. She had learned a number of things from the papers, who had been set free, who was part of the resistance, and how they had never found the bodies of numerous assumed deaths. One of the annoying things she had learned about was the fact that her whereabouts were fairly clear to anyone who had known her parents. Yet no one had thought to check on her or if they did it clearly wasn't done well. More worrying though was that the man, who had just escaped Azkaban, supposedly an impenetrable fortress, would know exactly where to look for her if he had reason to. And reason he did have as he supposedly was the right hand man to Voldemort and had been friends with her parents so whichever side he was on, as the papers had never contained irrefutable proof of his allegiance to either side, he would most likely be after her.

Cassi's mind was working fast; she would have to leave and was coming up with the easiest escape route. She mentally went through what she would need to do and how quickly it needed to be done. Deciding to leave before her uncle came home was the first decision she made, an easy one as he would try and stop her for whatever inane reason he came up with. The second was how she would get to her destination: The Knight Bus. The third decision was were she would go: Knockturne Alley, as no one would think to look for her there.


End file.
